Nursery Progress!

I have had so much fun over the weekend finally getting our nursery pulled together. And I think the major pieces are now all in place! I still need more wall art, and also need to decide what to do in the space above our rocker/glider (hanging branch? Pendant light? Corner shelves?) I also am looking to replace the nightstands next to the crib, which are extremely light weight and could tip easily. I hope to find really sturdy, heavy nightstands that have open shelves, so they can also double as bookshelves.

Here is the progress so far in photos:

 I stopped by SO many stores over the weekend! Garden Ridge rocked it with the best prices & selections. I loved these lamp shades!

 I also scored that sweet bird painting for only $10. It is the only piece of art that I have so far, but a good start.

Nothing terribly exciting going on with the dresser/hutch yet- this will become the changing station & I will fill several baskets with toys & supplies on the shelves.

 Love the bank of windows in this bedroom.

Our rocker/glider! The wall behind it is the one I am really waiting for creative inspiration on. The rocker itself is super comfortable- the fabric isn't as high of a quality as I'd hoped, and I also wonder if having a reclining option would have been wise (for napping). The other strange thing? The ottoman ALSO rocks back and forth! That was a total surprise- not something I prefer, but overall I still love the aesthetics of the chair. I think it fits perfectly with the room.

 BC has spent almost every evening reading in his beloved new chair.

 Finally found the perfect rug (after literally going to over 10 stores)- only $69 at Target! Super plush & soft.

Sam is quite pleased with the new rug. He was kneading a LOT of bread on that thing!

It feels SO good to have this space starting to come together. The only real finish out items remaining are to put things on the walls & to wash & organize all of the baby clothes & items. It is so exciting to think of our daughter growing up in this beautiful, sunny room! We are so excited to meet her.

Oh Happy Day!

I just got the good news that I PASSED MY (2nd) ONE HOUR GLUCOSE CHALLENGE TEST with a score of 99!


GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST, GESTATIONAL, 1HR 09/06/2012 (#80357, Final, 9/5/2012 10:15am)

Note to Patient	Your recent labs were normal. Please feel free to call our office with any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing you at your next appt

Happiest alert I could have hoped to receive. 

Baby Girl- we have lots of sweets in our gestational future together!

Also? I've been getting my craft on for the first time in years. I was very artistic & crafty as a kid- writing endless stories, drawing all the time, and doing lots and lots of sewing. I would sew clothes for my barbies, slippers for myself, and even made DOLLS. I know, right? Super crafty. My first doll was named "Lana" and was constructed out of an old pair of my mom's pantyhose. From there I got all high tech and got an actual Cabbage Patch-esque body pattern to hand sew. That doll went over so well I was commissioned to make one for each of my cousins.

I MADE this, when I was all of like 9-10 years old. The dolls must have taken the steam out of me because I really haven't sewn anything since. Or maybe it was just the tormented teen years that took over, when making dolls wasn't quite so cool....

And for your entertainment, this is what I looked like roughly around the peak of my sewing years. Dolls = cute. Me? Not so much.

I can't believe my mom let me try out for a FASHION SHOW looking like this. 

Can you say MULLET? I didn't make the call-backs... shocking, I know.

Which brings us back to my recent crafting endeavors. About 2 years ago I found this white washed branch on the shores of a local lake and was inspired to bring it home:

Babycakes has never been fond of it, so it has sat all this time in our garage attic. About a month ago I unearthed it, thinking that maybe, just maybe, there might be a way to incorporate it into our nursery. BC still wasn't into it, mumbling things along the lines of "it's a dead branch" blah blah blah. However, my good friend- who also happens to be an architect AND a designer, was as inspired as I was by it and together we envisioned hanging it from the nursery ceiling & creating some kind of mobile out of it.

Sorry BC- if a legit designer agrees this idea is golden, it is HAPPENING.

The only "theme" I have really come up with for our nursery so far is one with subtle hints of nature & birds (starting with my groovy crib bedding set from Dwell Studio). So I thought a homemade bird mobile might be a great way to utilize this branch!

Cue me to not having ANY idea where to start with this ambitious endeavor.

So I went to a local fabric store. And seriously stood there like a deer in headlights for a good 20 minutes. It wasn't the type of place where people helped you, and I have NEVER bought fabric or sewing supplies in my life (back in the good 'ole sewing days of my youth I would raid my mom's sewing kit and just use old pieces of fabric we had around the house).

I slowly but surely filled my cart with a mini sewing kit, a couple spools of thread, stuffing, and a scissors. But the rows upon rows of fabric freaked.me.out. I watched others who seemed to know the drill choose a pack of fabrics and bring them to a special counter to get cut. How would I know how much to get? What types to use? Good gracious.

And then I saw them- a special wall of fabrics "by the piece"- 18"x 21" samples that were arranged by colors.

YES! I could handle that.

Here is what ended up coming home with me:

I googled "bird mobiles" on the internet & printed out several patterns. This is the pattern that seemed cute AND relatively easy, so off I went:

And here is the first little bird! Far from perfect, but what bird (or person, for that matter) is?

I have been trying to sew 2 birds each day, so I have a good flock to pick and choose from for the final mobile. The count as of today includes these 5 little guys:

I have seriously messed up in a completely unique way on each one- you'd think by the 5th bird I'd have it down pat, but oh no... this pregnancy brain seems to re-kick in fresh with every stitch. I really hope I still like the final mobile- but am totally open to the possibility that I will think it all looks awful and too busy & that I have to go ahead and just buy a fancy store bought mobile. But I hope not. I hope this urge to craft turns into something good!

My final "Oh Happy Day!" news? I got a call that the Little Castle glider & ottoman I ordered months back are READY FOR DELIVERY. TOMORROW!!! Oddly I think BC is almost more excited about this than I am. He has been asking me almost every other day if the chair has come in yet, and I think plans to claim it as his new reading spot. Glad he is excited to break it in, b/c I want him to be spending LOTS of time in that chair with our little one once she arrives! Like during the night when I need to sleep. He can sit there rocking our baby & luxuriating in the comfy chair while admiring my fancy bird mobile-- telling himself how WRONG he was about that old 'dead' branch and appreciating how amazingly crafty his wife is. ; )

20 Week Updates (and Nursery Furniture!)

Babycakes and I had a lovely evening celebrating our 4th anniversary. We had an incredible meal at the Driskill Grill in our beloved Driskill Hotel- complete with a fancy congratulatory dessert. We then spent the evening watching our wedding video- put together by the fabulous Rings and Cake company. Having a videographer was a last minute addition to our wedding planning & budget, and one that initially BC wasn't so sure about. Turns out it was the BEST investment we could have made, as we savor the tradition of watching the video every year on our anniversary.

Anniversary dinner shot. 

The "girls" were out on display- they are definitely filling out clothes better these days!

Our nursery furniture was delivered today! Everything but the rocker & ottoman came. It is amazing how a room that once seemed huge now seems TINY with all of this stuff. I had hoped to keep our futon in the room for nights when I had to crash there, but now I am seriously reconsidering that. I could always snooze in the rocker....

Here are the "before" shots of the room:

And here are the "after" shots:

Dear Futon, you've served this room well- but I think I see you getting booted to the 3rd floor in the VERY near future.....

Here's a shot of the fabric & design of the chair we ordered from the Little Castle company (through Buy Buy Baby). I LOVE it- and it was half the price of the Pottery Barn model I liked! It will also take up quite a bit of room.

On to my 20 week updates- halfway through this pregnancy!

How far along? 20 weeks today

How big is baby? She is compared to the size of a banana this week, and is really developing her taste buds. She samples everything I eat or drink (she *might* have tasted some sips of champagne last night), and apparently my tastes now can/will influence her preferences later.

Weight gain? I was up 5.5 lbs this morning! I think our baby girl is going through a growth spurt. I've also had two huge dinners the last couple of nights, and (sounding like a broken record here)... not much is coming out again.

This is only 4 days after my 19 week picture (that one was taken late)- but I do think I am really starting to pop out more!

Sleep? Starting to get a little more challenging. I am trying hard to stop sleeping on my back, so brought in a couple body pillows to snuggle with on my side. I am most comfortable on my left side (which thankfully is the side that is best for pregnant ladies to be on)- but staying there all.night.long can definitely put kinks on my system (see hip issues below).

Food cravings/aversions? Nothing too interesting this week.

Symptoms? The worst this week is a pretty bad tugging/tightness across my right hip down through the groin. It happens mostly when I get up from sitting at my desk, and makes it hard to walk for a little while until I can shake & stretch it back out. I also got a migraine at my prenatal yoga class yesterday (yes- I've been going back to prenatal yoga! Happily have found a couple teachers I really like.) The class I went to yesterday was held in a room with frosted glass windows, and b/c the teacher stood in front of the windows while demonstrating it was a really perfect recipe to trigger my headache.

Most looking forward to? Starting to put together decorations for the nursery! Now that the main furniture pieces are in place, it will be much easier to design the rest. The walls of the nursery are a pale creamy yellow, and I envision white curtains, a white rug, and small tasteful accents of pink and sage green in a kind of french/nature theme (I totally made that blend up). I actually have a Pinterest board where I've been keeping nursery decor ideas (link here). I started it before we knew it was a girl, through it has always bent toward the girly (couldn't shake that intuition!)